Horse-detacher.



No. 710,520. Patented ont. 7, |902. T. P. RUMSEY.

HDRSE DETAGHER. (Application mea nu 22, 1902.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

THEODORE P. RUMSEY, OF ELMIRA, NEW YORK.

HORSE-DETACHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,520, dated October 7, 1902.

Application filed March 22, 1902. Serial No. 99,475. (No model.)

llo fz/ZZ whom, 'if 71mg/ concern,.-

Be it known that I, THEoDoRE P. RUM SEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elmira, in the county of Chemung and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Horse-Detacher, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices whereby horses are quickly and securely connected to and detached from vehicles under ordinary conditions and at the same time adapted to be detached from the vehicle by the action of the driver from his seat in emergencies, if required; and the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the mechanism whereby the above results are accomplished, all as hereinafter shown and. described, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In thev drawings illustrative of the invention, and in which like reference characters are employed to designate corresponding parts in all the figures, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a vehicle and a view of a horse with the outlines of the improvement connected to the thills and harness. Fig. 2 is a side view, on an enlarged scale, of the operative parts of the device. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line a: of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a side View with the harness-coupling portions disconnected. Fig. G is a rear elevation of the harness-coupling-loop portion detached.

The device may be applied to any form of vehicle-thill; but for the purpose of illustration I have shown it applied to an ordinary 'form of thill.

The thill is represented at 1 attached in the usual manner to the vehicle-body 2, and the horse is represented at 3.

One of the devices which is the subject of the present invention will be attached to and operate in connection with the outer end of each thill of the vehicle, but as they are exact duplicates one only isshown. The part attached to the thill consists of a casing or frame 4 and will be firmly secured to the thill, as by screws or other suitable fastenings, (indicated at 5,) the outer end of the casoutlines of the thill, as shown, so as to afford no abrupt shoulders or obstructions between the thill and casing. The lower part of the casing L is somewhat contracted and is provided with a longitudinal cavity having an elongated slot 6 opening downward through its bottom, the slot being somewhat narrower than the width of the interior of the casing, whereby ribs 7 are formed upon the sides of the slot to provide guides or tracks for the longitudinal movement of the harness-retaining means. Slidablydisposed within the casing 4 and projecting through the slot 6 is a bar 8, provided with ribs 9, engaging the tracks 7 and supported thereby. The ribs 9 are formed only on the forward portion of the bar 8, as shown, leaving the rear portion without the ribs, the object to be hereinafter explained.

The rear end of the bar 8 is perforated, as shown, to afford means for the attachment of the'forward ends of the traces 10, the rear ends of the traces being connected in the ordinary manner to the whiiiletrees of the vehicle, as indicated at 1l. The forward end of the bar 8 is inclined rearwardly and downwardly, as at 12, and a notch or cavity 13 is formed in the lower part ofthe bar in the rear of the inclined forward end, as shown. Resting upon the upper surface of the bar within the casing et is a tongue 14, the tongue being held normally downward by a spring 15, by which means the bar 8 is held spring-pressed upon the guide-ribs 7, but is at the same time adapted to be elevated by any upward pressure Aexerted upon it and also free to move longitudinally of the thill beneath the tongue. The rear portion of the bar 8, or the part unprovided with the ribs 9, is cut away on the upper part, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5, so that the portion of the bar provided with the ribs 9 may be moved rearwardly the full length of the slot 6, the rear portion of the bar under those circumstances projecting rearwardly of the casing, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5. By this means the eX- tent of the longitudinal movement ofthe bar is materially increased, as will be readily understood, this longitudinal movement providing for the necessary horse motion ing being formed to merge graduallyinto the l when the device is in use, as well as providing for the adjustment of the device to adapt it to diferent-sized horses, as will be hereinafter explained.

Pivoted upon the bar 8 between the notch 13 and the rear end of the bar and also between the inner ends of the shoulders or ribs .()and the end of the bar 8 is a lever 16, the lever being preferably forked and embracing the baron either side, as shown, and with its upper ends curved and adapted to engage the lower surface of the casing4when the lever is actuated, as shown in Fig. 5. When thus arranged, the lever 16 rests with its lower end trending forward and downward, as in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and when thus disposed willl be ineffective. The bar 8 will thus be mailitained by the pressure of the spring 15 normally in the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, with the notch 13 wholly below the lower line of the casing 4. When, however', the lever 16 is actuated, the inner ends of the ribs or shoulders 9 become centers or fulcrums upon which the bar 8 is turned vertically, causing the notched end to be moved upward into the casing 4, as shown in Fig. 5, and thereby withdrawing the inclined end 12 entirely within the casing.

Connected to the lower free end of the lever 16 is a cord 17, leading backward through suitable eyelets or loops 18 upon the thills and other parts ofthe vehicle to the dashboard 19 of the vehicle convenient to the hand of the driver, so that the driver can actuate the levers 16 from his seat, as hereinafter described. One of the cords 17 will be arranged on each side and will be united into one where they pass upward to the dashboard, so that both of the levers 16 will be actuated at once.

Connected into the harness on each side are thill-loops 20, formed to embrace the thill 1 and the casing 4 and conforming to the outlines of the casing, as shown in Fig. 4, the lower contracted portion of the loop being engaged by the recess 13 when the bar 8 is eX- tended. The bar when thus disposed forms a locking means to maintain the thill-loop connected to the thill 1 and casing 4, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.

The thill-loops will be provided with loops 23, 24, 25, and 26 to receive and support the inner ends of the pull-back straps 27, backstraps 28, short traces or haine or breast-strap connections 29, and girth-straps 30, respectively, as shown. IVhen thus arranged and connected, it will be observed the main portions of the harness, except the long traces 10, are all coupled to the thill-loop 20 and the traces are connected to the bars S, so that if the coupling between the thill-loops and the trace connections be disconnected the horse will be readily and quickly released, as will be understood, and this releasing will be accomplished, as before stated, by actuating the levers 16.

When used under ordinary circumstances, in hitching up the horse it is only necessary to force the thill-loops backward over the ends of the thills and the casing 4 or force the thills forward into the loops until the recesses 13 engage the loops, when the whole action of bitching up willhave been accomplished, and no connecting up of straps or other parts will be necessary. In detaching under ordinary circumstances itis only necessary to actuate the levers 16 by hand to disengage the bars 8. lf, however, the horse becomes unruly or starts to run away, the driver has only to draw upon the cords 17, when the levers 16 will at once actuate the bars 8 and cause the recessed ends to be withdrawn into the casing and release the thill-loops and permit the horse to move forward entirely free from the vehicle and effectually preventany danger to the occupants of the vehicle.

As before stated, the bar 8 is free to move longitudinally for a considerable distance, so that the necessary horse motion will be provided for.

A series of perforations 3l will be formed transversely through the casing 4, in which a pin 32 may be inserted to provide a means for limiting the longitudinal movement of the bar 8, so that the device may be adapted to dierent-sized horses.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a combined horse attaching and detaching device, a casing attached to the thill at or near its free end, a recessed bar disposed loosely in said casing and adapted to be withdrawn into or projected therefrom, a loop Ycoupled into the harness and embracing said thill and casing and adapted to be engaged by said recessed bar, and means for actuat ing said bar, substantially as described.

2. In a combined horse attaching and detaching device, a casing attached to the thill at or near its free end, a recessed bar-spring supported within said casing and disposed to move longitudinally therein, and adapted to be withdrawn into and projected therefrom, a loop coupled into the harness and embracing said thill and casing and adapted to be engaged by said recessed bar, and means for actuating said bar,substantially as described.

3. In a combined horse attaching and detaching device, a casing attached to the thill at or near its free end and having a longitudinal slot therein, a recessed bar disposed within said slot and slidable longitudinally therein and adapted to be withdrawn into and projected from said casing through said slot, a loop coupled to the harnessl and embracing said thill and casing and adapted to be engaged by said recessed bar, and means for actuating said bar, substantially as described.

4. In a combined horse attaching and detaching device, a casing attached to the thill at or near its free end, a recessed bar disposed to move longitudinally within said casing and adapted to be withdrawn into or projected therefrom, aloop connected into the harness- IOO IIO

and embracing said thill and casing and engaged by said recessed bar and partaking of its longitudinal motion, and means for actuating said bar, substantially as described.

5. In a combined horse attaching and detaching device, a casing attached to the thill at or near its free end, a recessed bar disposed within said casing and adapted to be Withdrawn into or projected therefrom, aloop connected into the harness and embracing said thill and casing and engaged by said recessed bar, the traces connected by one end to said bar, and means for actuating said bar, substantially as described.

6. In a combined horse attaching and detaching device, a casing attached to the thill at or near its free end, a recessed bar disposed to move longitudinally Within said casing and adapted to be Withdrawn into and projected therefrom, a loop connected into the harness and adapted to embrace said thill and casing, means for controlling the longitudinal movement of said recessed bar, and means for actuating said bar to release said loop, substantially as described.

7. In a combined horse attaching and detaching device, a casing attached to the thill at or near its free end, a recessed bar disposed within said casing and adapted to be withdrawn into and projected therefrom, a loop connected into the harness and embracing said thill and casing and adapted to be engaged by said bar, a lever pivoted upon said bar and adapted to engage said casing to aca tongue-spring supported and engaging said bar Within said casing, a loop connected into the harness and embracing said thill and casing and adapted to be engaged by said recessed bar, and means for actuating said bar to release said loop, substantially as described.

9. In a combined horse` attaching and detaching device, a casing attached to the thill at or near its free end and having a longitudinal slot therein, a recessed bar disposed Within said casing and projecting through said slot and slidable therein, a tongue-spring supported and adapted to maintain said bar yieldably projected outward through said slot, a loop coupled into the harness and embracing said thill and casing and engaged by said recessed bar, and means for actuating said bar to release said loop, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THEO'DORE P. RUMSEY.

Vitnesses:

M. C. BALDWIN, MARY S. BROWN. 

